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Photo by Derek Cain\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been an offseason of change for the Vancouver Canucks,<\/a> who finished with the worst record of any club in the Western Conference last season and didn\u2019t come anywhere close to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n It\u2019s going to be a monumental task ahead for new Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson<\/a>, who was hired to replace the terminated Patrik Allvin; also arriving back in town are franchise icons Henrik and Daniel Sedin, while another former Canucks forward, Manny Malhotra, is now behind the bench as their head coach, replacing the terminated Adam Foote.<\/p>\n What are the chances that the Canucks could make a major splash and acquire a top talent from a Canadian-based rival? According to longtime Canucks Insider Rick Shaliwal, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies should be on Johnson\u2019s radar.<\/p>\n \u201cGet those guys under 25 that have no moves. They don\u2019t have no moves, so they can\u2019t block a trade for Vancouver. Go get Kent Johnson, Shane Wright, Matthew Knies. They\u2019re all under 25 and they have no trade protection. Those are the guys that they got to go get,\u201d said Dhaliwal.<\/a><\/p>\n Could The Vancouver Canucks Poach Matthew Knies From The Toronto Maple Leafs?<\/p>\n The future of Matthew Knies with the Maple Leafs remains cloudy under new general manager John Chayka.<\/p>\n Before, the previous front office led by Brad Treliving viewed him as a key piece of the organisation\u2019s long-term plans, but he was apparently soon thought of as trade bait.<\/p>\n His name has surfaced frequently in trade discussions, including reports that a deadline-day deal would have sent him to the rival Montreal Canadiens in March. According to those reports, however, the transaction ultimately fell through after paperwork issues prevented it from being finalized in time.<\/p>\n According to the latest reporting from Maple Leafs Insider Nick Kypreos, Toronto remains determined<\/a> to reach an agreement with Knies and has no intention of backing away from negotiations.<\/p>\n At the same time, Chayka has consistently maintained that his priority is strengthening the roster, emphasizing that every option remains under consideration and that no potential move has been ruled out.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea that we\u2019re going to improve the roster by moving a top young player \u2026 anything\u2019s possible, I guess it\u2019s not probable,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cNo doubt, I think (the speculation) makes for good writing and good interest for people, but as we think about our team, and how we improve, that\u2019s a tough bar to hurdle\u2026 As general manager, we\u2019re going to evaluate everything, but that\u2019s the job.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthew Knies Remains Under Contract For Multiple Years<\/p>\n Now entering the second year of his six-year deal, Knies acknowledged that roster moves are an unavoidable reality in the NHL. Even so, he made it clear that his preference is to continue his career in Toronto rather than be dealt elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cI look at it that I committed to this team for six years and I hope that commitment stays vice versa,\u201d Knies said in early April. \u201cIt\u2019s something out of my control. So if it happens, it\u2019s understandable. \u201cBut I want to be here. That\u2019s how I look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n The agreement carries an annual salary cap charge of $7.75 million.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMichael Whitaker<\/a> Michael Whitaker is a sports journalist based in metro Detroit with nearly a full decade of experience with publications like Clutch Points and The Hockey News. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Eastern Michigan University. More about Michael Whitaker<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Photo by Derek Cain\/Getty Images It\u2019s been an offseason of change for the Vancouver Canucks, who finished…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-799008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}